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By E. EDUARDO CASTILLO
Associated Press Writer


MEXICO CITY --
Mexican authorities announced Wednesday that they have captured a U.S. citizen alleged to be a top member of a major drug cartel and say they will send him back to the United States immediately.
Gustavo Rivera Martinez, 46, reputed to be a top member of the Tijuana-based Arellano-Felix cartel, will be turned over to agents of the U.S. government, which wants him on drug charges, Interior Secretary Juan Camilo Mourino told a news conference.
Rivera Martinez took over the cartel's operation after the arrest of Francisco Javier Arellano Felix, said federal Public Safety Secretary Genaro Garcia Luna, who also attended the news conference along with the deputy federal attorney general for international affairs, Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos.
Vasconcelos said Rivera Martinez was captured Tuesday night in the state of Baja California Suralong with three other suspects, including a Canadian citizen whom police identified as Pavel Kulisek of Vancouver. The other suspects appeared to be providing Rivera Martinez with security, but their exact links to the cartel are still under investigation, Vasconcelos said.
Rivera Martinez has been a fugitive since 2002, according to information posted on the Web site of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and the U.S. government has offered a US$2 million (euro1.3 million) reward for his capture.
U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza praised the government of Mexican President Felipe Calderon for landing "another strong blow against narcotrafficking."
In a statement, Garza called Rivera Martinez "the de-facto head of the Arellano Felix crime family" and said he is wanted on drug charges in Southern California.
The arrest followed an investigation in which Mexican police intelligence authorities collaborated with their counterparts at the DEA, Mourino said.
According to Garcia Luna, Rivera Martinez was responsible for the logistics of transferring drugs to the United States and also oversaw money-laundering.
The Arellano Felix cartel emerged as a drug trafficking powerhouse in the 1980s in Tijuana, across the border from San Diego, when it recruited dozens of police into its ranks and paid millions of dollars in bribes to law enforcement and military personnel.
The cartel's influence is widely believed to have waned in recent years as its leaders have been killed or captured.
Francisco Javier Arellano Felix was sentenced to life in prison in the U.S. in November on charges that he led the cartel following the capture of brother Benjamin Arellano Felix.
Benjamin Arellano Felix was recently sentenced to 22 years in prison in Mexico on drug trafficking charges.
Another brother, Ramon Arellano Felix, was killed in a shootout with police in February 2002.
The oldest of the seven Arellano Felix brothers, Francisco Rafael, spent years imprisoned in Mexico and was later extradited to the United States. He was freed from a U.S. lockup last week and, according to local media, has already returned to Mexico.
Drug-related violence has exploded throughout the country, including Tijuana, as drug traffickers fight for turf.
Calderon has sent 24,000 troops and federal agents to violent hotspots to combat the traffickers. Authorities say some of the violence has been caused by drug traffickers seeking revenge for the crackdown.
Rivera Martinez's arrest is the latest in a series of blows to Mexican drug trafficking organizations, including the January arrest of Alfredo Beltran Leyva, an alleged top leader of the Sinaloa cartel.


Wire Service

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